Abstract: Proposition 14, or the California Fair Housing initiative, became a focal point for the issue of racial discrimination and
the civil rights movement in California in 1964. The collection contains political campaign material (pamphlets, brochures,
newsletters, monographs, flyers, bumper stickers) directly related to Proposition 14 from church bodies and political organizations.
Also included are materials on race relations and the civil rights movement throughout the United States.

Shelf location: 2/K/6

Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Graduate Theological Union
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.

In June 1963, the California legislature passed AB 1240, the Rumford Act, a fair housing bill banning discrimination in the
sale or rental of housing and to forbid lending institutions, mortgage holders, real estate brokers and others to practice
discrimination in housing transactions. In April 1964, a "Realtor's Initiative", Proposition 14, was put on the state ballot.
Its text stated that it was an initiative to prohibit the State from denying a person the right to rent or sell property "to
any person as he chooses." In effect, the initiative would repeal the 1963 Rumford Act and amend the California constititution.
Proposition 14, or the California Fair Housing initiative, became a focal point for the issue of racial discrimination and
the civil rights movement in California. Religious bodies, civic groups, and political organizations rallied to strong vocal
positions either in opposition to or approval of the initiative.

Proposition 14 won overwhelmingly in the November 1964 election. In 1966 the California Supreme Court invalidated the amendment
because it violated federal guarantees. The Rumford Act was reinstated. In 1967, the US Supreme Court agreed with the state
Supreme Court. Subsequent efforts by Governor Ronald Reagan and members of the California legislature failed to replace or
modify the Rumford act. Ultimately, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act) provided protection against
discrimination, which reduced the importance of the California act. (Source: Lou Cannon,
Governor Reagan : His Rise to Power. New York : PublicAffairs, 2003, 201-205.)

Scope and Content of Collection

George Conklin, the donor, was on the staff of the Northern California Congregational Conference during the years of the Proposition
14 campaign. The material is, in his words, "a collection of public and background materials from that campaign." He further
makes the point that the campaign against Proposition 14 "was a first in Catholic-Protestant cooperation in California on
social issues." (August 17, 1977 memo, George Conklin to Oscar Burdick, Collection file, GTU Archives Office.)

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.